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Lights, camera, action! It was the 26-28 of August 2017 on a sizzling hot summer day in London where bare chested men and women in bikini’s showed off their Caribbean flags and wined their waists at the Nottinghill Carnival which begun in 1966.

People from various nationalities visited London. Floats, whistles, face painting, rum punch, jerk chicken, reggae music, soca music, and heavy smoke filled the air. The performers danced and showed off their elaborate feather costumes to the crowd. Some peformers took pictures with the audience while other performers danced with the audience.

The police attended the carnival due to safety concerns as there have been violent attacks in recent years. Lots of drugs and weapons were seized however some people were still hurt and people were smoking so, I wouldn’t recommend bringing babies or children to this event even though some were present.

Portable toilets were scattered around the huge carnival area. Some residents and local restaurants charged £2.00 to use the toilet while others used the toilet publicly. The carnival honoured Grenfell tower victim’s as 80 people died a few months ago in an apartment fire. All in all the Nottinghill Carnival is worth experiencing at least once so please be sure to put it on your bucket list. Lol😀

The Fringe Festival in Edinburgh is where Theatre, Comedy, Spoken Word, Music, Burlesque, Magic Shows, Street Performances and late night partying rules! The ‘worlds largest Arts Festival’ is held from 4-27th of August.

I attended the 70th Annual Fringe Festival out of curiosity where my friends and I attended the free events and provided donations to the performers. There are also paid events. The comedy shows were quite vulgar yet at times funny. Oh my gosh, there were so many restaurants, pubs, and bars to choose from.

I also noticed there were children’s shows. It always fascinates me to see red head children or a family with natural red hair as I’m not used to seeing it growing up in America. Red haired people are usually referred to as Ginger not red heads as Americans like to call them.

People from all over the world visit Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. The historic architecture was quite dark almost had a medieval vibe. The Scottish breakfast includes: Eggs, Bacon, Sausage, Toast, Baked Beans and Haggis (Sheep lungs, heart, & liver), as well as the accent, currency, Shortbread, Kilts, Bagpipes, Scotch Whisky and Harry Potter Tours are what the Scots are well known for. There is so much to Scotland, it is truly worth visiting. For More Details About The Fringe Festival please visit: https://www.edfringe.com/.

London is a multi cultural city filled with historic statues such as Winston Churchill and Mary Seacole. Landmark buildings such as Westminister Abbey, London Bridge, The Shard and Buckingham Palace. London has great shopping markets, multi ethnic restaurants, and pubs.

Sports such as Cricket, Football (soccer) Rugby (similar to American Football) and Tennis in a town called Wimbledon which is just on the outskirts of London.

Fresh fried cod fish and thick cut fries sprinkled with vinegar and salt commonly called fish and chips. The tube which is the underground train, the black cab, the red two storey buses and the red telephone booth are what London is known for.

Londoners have various accents: Cockney and the Queen’s English. Cockney is what the average middle class people use. The singer Adele has a cockney accent, it’s very distinctive and kinda of rhymes. The Queen’s English is the accent of the affluent, highly educated, posh people such as the Prime Minister Teresa May or Prince Harry use.

Other cities in the United Kingdom such as Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool also have distinctive accents. The Irish, Scottish, and Welsh accents are very beautiful and it takes a person with an attentive ear to understand them. LOL:)

Now back to London, there is a lot of diversity here. There are highly saturated African, Caribbean, Indian, Asian, and Polish Communities. There are festivals such as the Notting Hill Carnival which is a Caribbean festival. I went last August OMG, the reggae music, spicy food, and floats were so cool. I’m really proud of my Caribbean heritage and to be born in London.

It is a privilege to be back after spending a lot of time in the U.S.A. If you ever get a moment to visit London be sure to say hello and make sure you bring an umbrella A.K.A brolly because it often rains here.